Found on the boat, ‘El Donny’: FWC and National Park Service officers found 87 wrung lobster tails on board a commercial fishing vessel. The 66 pictured here were undersized.
Photo courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Found on the boat, ‘El Donny’: FWC and National Park Service officers found 87 wrung lobster tails on board a commercial fishing vessel. The 66 pictured here were undersized.
Photo courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Three people arrested and charged with spiny lobster poaching

Three people were arrested last Saturday and charged with poaching spiny lobsters in the waters of Miami-Dade County.

Donny Caridad Gonzalez, 53, Nemesio Gonzalez Garcia, 76, and Josefina Diaz Garcia, 68, were arrested by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and Biscayne National Park law enforcement officers. Police said the trio caught 87 Florida lobsters, of which 66 were undersized.

The three were charged with the following misdemeanors: possession of lobster during closed season (the season goes from Aug. 6 through March 31), possession of wrung lobster tails, undersized lobster tails and interfering with an FWC officer.

After conducting a safety inspection on board the boat “El Donny,’’ officers found a lobster shell inside a crab trap, according to FWC. The boat owner indicated there was no lobster on the vessel; however, an officer found lobster tails inside five white plastic bags stashed behind engine equipment .